Deptford senior Marcus Hood became the 5th South Jersey pole vaulter to clear 15-6 indoors Wednesday in Toms River.
No series information available because the Bubble and their results platform are a joke, but Hood cleared 15-6 at the final South Jersey Track Coaches Assocation meet.
That equals No. 13 in state history indoors and No. 6 on the combined South Jersey indoor-outdoor list. Six of the top nine pole vaulters in South Jersey are from Gloucester County.
Hood’s 15-6 equals No. 3 in South Jersey indoor history, behind Delsea’s Marco Morales [16-0 in 2020] and Oakcrest’s Ryan Merlino [16-0 last year]. Delsea’s Nico Morales cleared 15-7 outdoors, so Hood equalled No. 4 all-time indoor or outdoor in South Jersey history.
According to his MileSplit profile, Hood didn’t vault as a freshman, cleared 10-0 indoors as a sophomore and then 11-6 outdoors and then 13-0 last year as a junior indoors and 15-3 outdoors.
This was his 5th meet over at least 15 feet this year with five other meets at 14-6 or higher.
Hood placed 6th in the 55-meter hurdles at Group 3 sectionals but didn’t vault, so he won’t be vaulting at the Meet of Champions on Sunday at Ocean Breeze. But he will be eligible for Easterns a week from Tuesday at the Armory or either of the two national meets – Armory Nationals in New York or THE TRACK Nationals in Boston, both the weekend of March 13-16.
Deptford junior Mason Henry placed 2nd at the Bubble Wednesday at 13-0, and senior Tiburcio Torres was 3rd at 12-0.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 